
What are two ways that variation arises in a population?
- DNA Mutation: A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence. ...
- Gene Flow: Also called gene migration, gene flow introduces new genes into a population as organisms migrate into a new environment. ...
- Sexual Reproduction: Sexual reproduction promotes genetic variation by producing different gene combinations. ...
Why would a variation help a population?
What are 3 reasons to explain genetic variations in meiosis?
- Process of Meiosis. A man produces sperm and a woman produces eggs because their reproductive cells undergo meiosis. …
- Crossing Over. …
- Random Segregation. …
- Independent Assortment.
How do we get variation in a population?
- σ 2 is population variance,
- x 1, x 2, x 3, …..x n are the observations
- N is the number of observations,
- µ is the mean of the data set
What is the main source of variation in a population?
Variation in a population often results from natural selection, random genetic drift, emigration, or mutation.

What variation exists in the population?
Genetic VariationGenetic variation describes naturally occurring genetic differences among individuals of the same species. This variation permits flexibility and survival of a population in the face of changing environmental circumstances.
What are the 3 types of genetic variation?
The different gene forms caused by genetic polymorphisms are called alleles. The genetic diversity has three different sources: mutation, recombination and immigration of genes. Mutation is the driving force of genetic variation and evolution.
What are 3 ways we get variation in a population?
Mutations, the changes in the sequences of genes in DNA, are one source of genetic variation. Another source is gene flow, or the movement of genes between different groups of organisms. Finally, genetic variation can be a result of sexual reproduction, which leads to the creation of new combinations of genes.
What are the types of variations?
Variations can be categorised into two types:Genotypic variations are caused due to changes in the chromosome or genes or due to various alleles of the same gene. They are inheritable variations. ... Phenotypic variations are caused due to food supply, climate change or by conscious efforts.
What are the 4 types of genetic variation?
Single base-pair substitutionTransition. interchange of the purine (Adenine/Guanine) or pyrimidine (Cytosine/Thymine) nucleic acids.Transversion. interchange of a purine and pyrimidine nucleic acid (Figure 4)
What causes variation in a population?
Genetic variation can be caused by mutation (which can create entirely new alleles in a population), random mating, random fertilization, and recombination between homologous chromosomes during meiosis (which reshuffles alleles within an organism's offspring).
How is variation created in a population?
Solution : Occurrence of differences between organisms is called variation. New variation may arise during the process of DNA copying that already has variations accumulated from previous generations. Combining variations from two or more individuals would thus create new combinations of variations.
Why variations are occurs in population?
The main reasons for variations in a population are mutation and genetic recombination during sexual reproduction.
What are examples of genetic variation?
Genetic variation results in different forms, or alleles?, of genes. For example, if we look at eye colour, people with blue eyes have one allele of the gene for eye colour, whereas people with brown eyes will have a different allele of the gene.
What is the most common genetic variation?
Single nucleotide polymorphismsSingle nucleotide polymorphisms are the most abundant type of genetic variation in the human genome in terms of their number. They occur at an interval of about one SNP in every kilobase of DNA sequence throughout the genome when the DNA sequences of any two individuals are compared.
What are the types of variation in biology?
More examplesContinuous variationDiscontinuous variationHeightBlood groupWeightHand used to write withArm spanEye colourHead circumference at birthAbility to roll tongue
What are the different types of genetics?
Types of geneticsMolecular genetics.Developmental genetics.Population genetics.Quantitative genetics.Phylogenetics.
What are the two sources of phenotypic variation?
Phenotypic variation arises from either of two sources: genetic variation and environmental variation. However, only differences that arise from genetic variation can be passed on to future generations. Furthermore, only a fraction of the genetic component of variation, the additive genetic variation, is actually heritable.
What does absence of genetic variation in populations mean?
Absence of genetic variation in populations generally suggests that there was a population bottleneck in the recent history of the group, a time when the population size became very small. The result of a population bottleneck is that all members of the current population are descended from a small number of individuals, ...
How does natural selection remove genetic variation?
In many cases, after all, natural selection removes genetic variation by eliminating genotypes that are less fit. Many factors act to increase or maintain the amount of genetic variation in a population. One of these is mutation, which is in fact the ultimate source of all variation. However, mutations do not occur very frequently, ...
Why is phenotypic variation important?
Phenotypic variation is of interest to biologists because it is what natural selection acts upon: different pheno-types may have different fitnesses, and selection results in fitter phenotypes leaving more descendants. Phenotypic variation arises from either of two sources: genetic variation and environmental variation.
What is genetic variation?
Genetic variation in a population describes the existence in that population of different alleles, or alternative forms, for a given gene. The presence of genetic variation implies that individuals of the population vary in the alleles they possess, meaning that individuals differ in genotype.
How did gel electrophoresis help scientists?
Then, the development of the technique of gel electrophoresis allowed biologists to examine patterns of protein variation across populations and to quantify genetic variation. Biologists detected surprisingly large amounts of genetic variation. In most vertebrate species, for example, approximately 30 percent of genes were found to be polymorphic.
Why is selection overpowered by genetic drift?
Because small fitness differences result in only weak natural selection, selection may be overpowered by the random force of genetic drift. Alleles whose frequencies are governed by genetic drift rather than by natural selection are said to be selectively neutral.

Genetics
- Genetic variation in a population describes the existence in that population of different alleles, or alternative forms, for a given gene. The presence of genetic variation implies that individuals of the population vary in the alleles they possess, meaning that individuals differ in genotype. Genetic loci for which there are multiple alleles are d...
Evolution
- Finally, several forms of natural selection act to maintain genetic variation rather than to eliminate it. These include balancing selection, frequency-dependent selection, and changing patterns of natural selection over time and space.
Definition
- Balancing selection occurs when there is heterozygote advantage at a locus, a situation in which the heterozygous genotype (one including two different alleles) has greater fitness than either of the two homozygous geno-types (one including two of the same allele). Under heterozygote advantage, both alleles involved will be maintained in a population.
Clinical significance
- A classic example of heterozygote advantage concerns the allele for sickle-cell anemia. Individuals who are homozygous for the sickle-cell allele have sickle-cell anemia, which causes the red blood cells to become sickle-shaped when they release oxygen. These sickle-shaped cells become caught in narrow blood vessels, blocking blood flow. Prior to the development of moder…
Benefits
- Heterozygotes, however, have normal, donut-shaped blood cells and do not suffer from sickle-cell anemia. In addition, they enjoy a benefit of the sickle-cell allele, which offers protection from malaria. Consequently, heterozygous individuals have greater fitness than individuals who have two copies of the normal allele. Heterozygote advantage in this system is believed to have playe…
Prevention
- Frequency-dependent selection is believed to be fairly common in natural populations. For example, in situations where there is competition for resources, individuals with rare preferences may enjoy greater fitness than those who have more common preferences. Frequency-dependent selection may also play a role in predation: if predators form a search image for more common …
Examples
- One example comes from the allele for resistance to copper toxicity in species of grass. Copper-tolerant alleles are common in areas adjacent to copper mines, where the soil is contaminated. They are not expected in un-contaminated areas, however, where they are less fit than normal alleles. However, because grass species are wind pollinated, gametes can travel considerable di…
Selected bibliography
- Curtis, Helena. Biology. New York: Worth Publishers, 1989. Futuyma, Douglas J. Evolutionary Biology. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, 1998. Gould, James L., and William T. Keeton, with Carol Grant Gould. Biological Science,6th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996.
Appearance
- There are three color morphs in the peppered moth: a light morph, a dark or melanistic morph, and an intermediate morph. Before the Industrial Revolution, the light morph was the most common form, although melanistic moths were also seen occasionally. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, the melanistic morph had become much more common, and had practically …
Habitat
- Biologists traced this shift to industrial pollution in urban areas. Without camouflaged resting places, the light moths became easy targets for bird predators. This explained both the prevalence of melanistic moths in polluted urban environments, and of light moths in comparatively pristine country habitats.